1. BEGIN SUMMARY: AT ITS BEST, EMBASSY REPORTING IS READ IN THE RIGHT PLACES AT THE RIGHT TIME BY THE RIGHT PEOPLE, WHO USE IT TO CONSTRUCT AND CONTEXTUALIZE FOREIGN POLICY. AT ITS BEST, REPORTING CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. A BIPOLAR WORLD HAS BEEN REPLACED BY A MORE COMPLEX ONE, SATURATED WITH VAST AMOUNTS OF INFORMATION FLOWING AT LIGHTNING SPEED. DOES EMBASSY REPORTING STILL MATTER IN SUCH AN ENVIRONMENT? DOES ANYONE HAVE TIME TO READ BEYOND THE SUMMARY PARAGRAPH, OR EVEN TO READ THE FULL SUMMARY? THIS MONTH WE TRY TO FIND OUT. ARE YOU STILL READING? IS ANYONE THERE? END SUMMARY

2. LOOKING BACK TO LOOK AHEAD. ON TEMPORARY ASSIGNMENT TO CONGEN LENINGRAD’S OVERBURDENED CONSULAR SECTION IN 1989, I WAS TASKED WITH DETERMINING WHETHER A PERSON ON “THE LIST” OF REFUSENIKS DENIED PERMISSION TO EMIGRATE WAS, IN FACT, STILL ALIVE. THE LIST MATTERED. SECRETARY OF STATE GEORGE SHULTZ PRESENTED IT TO HIS COUNTERPART AT HIGH-LEVEL MEETINGS AS PART OF AN ACTIVE HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN. UNDER GORBACHEV, ALMOST EVERYONE ON THE LIST WOULD EVENTUALLY BE ALLOWED TO LEAVE.

3. I SET OUT BY TRAIN, NOTEBOOK IN HAND, TO THE TINY TOWN OF URDOMA, REACHABLE THROUGH THE BUSTLING REGIONAL CENTER OF SYKTYVKAR. AS FAR AS ANYONE COULD REMEMBER, NO AMERICAN HAD TRAVELED TO THESE PLACES, AS THEY WERE IN AN OFFICIALLY “CLOSED” PART OF THE USSR. BUT IT WAS THE GORBACHEV ERA, AND “CLOSED” DIDN’T NECESSARILY MEAN CLOSED ANYMORE. AT THE END OF A LONG DIRT ROAD, I FOUND THE HOUSE OF THE MAN I WAS SEEKING. HE HAD PASSED AWAY THE YEAR BEFORE, BUT I FOUND HIS SON. I VISITED THE GRAVEYARD, SURVEYED THE LOCAL ECONOMY AND LEARNED ABOUT LIFE IN THE KOMI REPUBLIC.

4. I STILL RECALL THE STRANGE EXHILARATION THAT CAME WITH WRITING REPORTING CABLES LONGHAND BACK AT THE CONSULATE, RIPPING PAGES OUT OF YELLOW LEGAL PADS TO BE HAND-CARRIED TO FINLAND FOR TYPING AND TRANSMISSION THROUGH EMBASSY HELSINKI. THE CONSULATE DIDN’T HAVE SECURE COMMUNICATIONS AT THAT TIME. WE WROTE ABOUT POLITICS, ECONOMICS, HUMAN RIGHTS AND LIFE BEHIND THE IRON CURTAIN.

5. END USERS AT THE STATE DEPARTMENT AND OTHER U.S. AGENCIES SEEMED TO HAVE AN INSATIABLE APPETITE FOR REPORTING FROM THE SOVIET UNION. ON-THE-GROUND IMMERSION, LEARNING AND CONTACT WORK LED TO REPORTING THAT WAS USEFUL, WAS READ IN WASHINGTON, AND IN SOME CASES, COULD EVEN INFLUENCE POLICY.

6. REPORTING TODAY. AIMING TO SHINE A LIGHT ON THE SUBJECT, FSO DAN LAWTON (PROTECT) LOOKS AT “THE ART” OF EMBASSY REPORTING. THOUGH HE IDENTIFIES MANY CHALLENGES—TRYING TO REACH HARRIED WASHINGTON AUDIENCES WITH SHORT ATTENTION SPANS AND INFORMATION OVERLOAD, AND COPING WITH THE FALLOUT FROM THE UNPRECEDENTED ASSAULT ON THE INTEGRITY OF CLASSIFIED COMMUNICATIONS—LAWTON BELIEVES THAT “REPORTING FROM THE FIELD IS STILL THE INDISPENSABLE INGREDIENT OF ANY MEANINGFUL FOREIGN POLICY DISCUSSION.”

7. NEXT, FORMER CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY DIRECTOR FOR EUROPEAN ANALYSIS JOHN GANNON (PROTECT) HIGHLIGHTS THE WAYS THAT EMBASSY REPORTING IS UTILIZED, OFFERING EXAMPLES FROM HIS OWN EXPERIENCE. A COMPILATION OF SHORT PIECES OFFERS PERSPECTIVES ON REPORTING FROM SEVEN FSOS IN THE FIELD. A REVIEW OF RAY SMITH’S BOOK, THE CRAFT OF POLITICAL ANALYSIS FOR DIPLOMATS, HIGHLIGHTS A VALUABLE PRACTITIONERS GUIDE THAT FEATURES, AS A CASE STUDY, EMBASSY MOSCOW’S PREDICTIONS OF THE FALL OF THE SOVIET UNION.

8. IF YOU ARE STILL READING, LET ME ALSO REPORT THAT THE CHIEF-OF-MISSION QUALIFICATIONS DISCUSSION CONTINUES. IN HIS SPEAKING OUT, AMB. DENNIS JETT MAKES THE CASE FOR MEASURING COM PERFORMANCE SYSTEMATICALLY. IN THIS MONTH’S RELAUNCH OF THE “AFSA ISSUE BRIEF,” AMB. CHARLIE RAY LAYS OUT THE EVOLUTION OF THE AFSA COM GUIDELINES. IN HIS PRESIDENT’S VIEWS COLUMN, ROBERT J. SILVERMAN EXPRESSES CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM ABOUT THE NEW QDDR EXERCISE. AND WE OFFER TWO VIEWS OF THE WESTGATE TRAGEDY IN KENYA, ONE FROM A KENYAN JOURNALISM STUDENT, THE OTHER FROM AN AMERICAN HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT.

9. BEGIN COMMENT: REPORTING IS ALIVE AND WELL. NO MATTER WHERE TECHNOLOGY TAKES US, THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR REAL, LIVE, ON-THE-GROUND REPORTING OFFICERS. SO PUT DOWN THE BLACKBERRY AND PLEASE READ ON. END COMMENT